Welcome to Weekend Reads! It’s your little, weekly dose of comic book goodness that focuses on some aspect of my weekend reading!

Ongoing Reads

Power Man and Iron Fist continues to gather momentum with its third issue. Not much to say, this book is hilarious, easy to read, and Greene’s art pops off the page. This should be on your pull list. Extraordinary X-Men suffers a bit of a lull with its 9th issue as we watch the young, wannabe X-Men wander around different worlds. The art is awesome but the story lacks substance. I have a feeling Apocalypse Wars is going to be a run not worth reading until it comes out in trade. Captain Marvel continues to be a treat every month, if you haven’t been keeping up I assure you it’s worth it, otherwise be sure to check it out in trade!

New Reads

Dept. H #1

Dept. H is everything I want in a comic book. I could stare at Sharlene Kindt’s watercolors all day. The water, the sky, the flashback sequences, everything she does has its own unique flare. You aren’t going to find comic book art much better than this anywhere right now. Matt Kindt does an excellent job pacing the issue, by the end of it, the world and it’s character feel established but it never felt like things were being set up. Even with the science fiction elements of living in an underwater base, the story feels grounded in reality. It’s a good sign when you have these futuristic elements in play, that it is the characters that drive the narrative forward. I love this world and I love this book. Start reading this now guys, you won’t be disappointed.

Outcast Vol 1

Robert Kirkman’s Outcast was tough to get into. Honestly, if I would have picked this up issue by issue I don’t think I would have made it to #3. The first couple of issues were confusing. The art was at times was difficult to understand, the characters were slow to be introduced, and if it didn’t have Kirkman’s name on it I probably wouldn’t have continued… but it does and I did. The series gathered momentum the last half of the trade and concluded with a pretty cool world built and a semi-interesting cliffhanger. Am I dying to read more? No. Will I? Maybe. Anyone recommend it?

Frontlines Requiem #1

I tried another space book this week, Frontlines Requiem #1. This book looks and feels like a classic science fiction novel. The story is basically your typical humans in a war against an alien race that is more powerful and advanced than them. The art is a little simple for my liking but I think that may be by design if they’re going for a classic sci-fi feel. The book’s artist, Gary Erskine, struggles to give his characters a strong sense of emotion but that’s only noticeable during the more political portions of the story. If you like science fiction, this doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any means, but it does a good of being it. Can I even say that? I don’t know. I just did. 😊

Next Time

I almost forgot; I tried reading Tokyo Ghost #6 without reading the first five. Big mistake. I knew I was in trouble when the first page of the issue was what seemed like a letter page worth of backstory. The concept sounds cool but if you want to read it I recommend starting at issue #1.